In 1869, a new business journal for the jewelry and watch industry, The Horological Review, was launched in the heart of New York City’s jewelry district, then located near Wall Street on Maiden Lane.

One hundred forty years later, that book survives as JCK. Over the years, we have merged with a competitor (The Horological Review with Jewelers’ Circular), absorbed other publications (including The Keystone in the early 1930s), moved from New York to Pennsylvania and back to New York again, launched the most successful show in the business, and shepherded our franchise into the digital world and onto the Internet.

Through it all, we’ve chronicled the ups and downs and ups again of the U.S. and global jewelry industry.

We hope our enterprise will be more needed and relied upon than ever, as our anniversary coincides with what is at minimum the worst recession in anyone’s memory and hopefully not much worse. In addition to celebrating the past this year, it will be our foremost responsibility to help the industry to steer its way through the rough waters ahead and into the future.

There are bright notes here at JCK at the start of this year. Our traffic on JCKonline.com continues to explode, with unique visitors per month breaking 130,000 in the last three months of the year. Our breaking news, well-read blogs, online directory, and catalog library have all contributed to this growth.

Our JCK Jewelers Choice Awards was a smash success in its second year, with over 400 entries and a 40 percent increase in votes. Look for the winners and finalists of the awards to be celebrated in the March 2009 issue of JCK and a special supplement in April.

I look forward to seeing our many friends in the industry at the 24 Karat Club event this month. And speaking of our friends in the industry, our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to our friends in Mumbai. We stand in solidarity with the Indian jewelry industry. I look forward to my annual trip to Mumbai next fall. I’ve grown very fond of that cacophonous place and its warm, funny, and gracious citizens.

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and prosperous New Year.